io8 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



is avoided; and, if a new comb is 

 added daily, tliere are always fresh 

 eggs available, tlie exact age of wliicli 

 is known. 



Tlie Youths' Companion has just 

 commenced a continued story, tliat 

 will run eight weelis, in which will l)e 

 set forth the experiences of two parties 

 of boys, each party going north, up a 

 river, in a rowboat, with a colony of 

 bees, a la migratory bee-keeping, striv- 

 ing for a prize of $25 offered by the 

 Bee-Keepers' Association for the larg- 

 est yield of honey from a single col- 

 ony. The story is written by Arthur 

 E. McFarlane, and starts out well. 



A Lining of damp paper put inside 

 a vessel into which melted wax is to 

 be poured will prevent the wax from 

 coming in contact with the vessel, 

 hence there will be no dish to clean up 

 jifterwards. Strange as it may seem, 

 the paper will also peel off readily 

 from the cake of wax. Neither wiil 

 the cake crack while cooling, as it is 

 not stuck fast to the walls of the dish. 

 Mr. H. R. Miller, of Fulton, Missouri, 

 wrote me about this. 



Cut deep Avhen uncapping combs for 

 extracting. This can be done more 

 quickly than to try to cut off a thin 

 slice. In lengthening out the cells the 

 bees have an opportunity for using 

 the wax they secrete. The honey will 

 drain from the cappings, or may Vie 

 secured by rendering the cappings in 

 a solar extractor. There is one more 

 point: The new addition that the bees 

 make to the combs in lengthening out 

 the cells makes the next uncapping 

 very easy. 



Bees should be queenless a few 

 hours, long enough to realize their con- 

 dition, before being given eggs for 



queen-rearing, says Henry Alley, but 

 we should not wait too long before 

 giving eggs, as, after being queenless 

 30 hours, they seem to lose their irtter- 

 est and enthusiasm. It is not good 

 policy to compel a given lot of bees 

 to commence a second batch of cells— 

 their interest and enthusiasm have 

 vanished. 



Tobacco Smoke, when used for in- 

 troducing queens, puts the bees in 

 such a condition that they cannot de- 

 fend their stores, for this reason it 

 should be used just at dusk, after the 

 bees have (piit flying; that is, if at 

 D time when bees will rob. The effect 

 of the smoke soon passes off; and Mr. 

 Alley says that he thinks it impossible 

 to injure bees by its use, if they can 

 have fresh air soon after the smoke 

 is used. 



ir«j(«^«^^«»** 



Virgin Queens can not be success- 

 fully introduced unless the bees have 

 been (lueenless three days, says INIr. 

 Alley. I think :Mr. Alley must have 

 reference to virgin (lueens that have 

 attained some age, as I have intro- 

 duced hundreds of just-hatched vir- 

 gins by simply letting them loose on 

 the combs at the time of removing the 

 laying queen. Mr. Alley introduces 

 his virgin queens 'list before dark, by 

 giving the bees a good dose of tobacco 

 smoke, and then letting the (lueen run 

 in at the top of the hive. 



*^*»^t»^«»'»-" 



Henry Alley does not use artificial 

 queen cells. He takes a comb filled 

 with eggs, and cuts it into strips by 

 running a thin, hot knife through each 

 alternate row of cells. Each alternate 

 egg is then destroyed by inserting the 

 "scratch" end of a match into the cell 

 and giving it a twirl. The strips of 

 comb are then fastened, with melted 

 wax, to strips of Avood, in such a posi- 

 tion that the cells point downward, 



